Lenovo demos laptop with a screen you can swivel into portrait mode

Lenovo has proven again that it isn’t content with PC designs. The latest era of laptops has been focused on ultralight computers that are easy to transport, but they're hard to differentiate. However, Lenovo’s continual experimentation has brought us some unique laptop releases and concepts in recent years, including a laptop with a screen that expands by rolling, a laptop with an outward folding screen, laptops with foldable screens, and laptops with dual 14-inch displays.

The ThinkBook VertiFlex Concept laptop shown off today at the IFA conference in Berlin continues this exploration with a screen that you can swivel into and out of portrait mode.

Concept laptop

The VertiFlex PC demoed is a prototype. Lenovo doesn't have any plans to release the laptop and hasn't provided further details, like the components used in the prototype. That said, Lenovo has previously turned concepts into real products, such as the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable.

Lenovo demoed a laptop that is 0.7 inches thick and weighs 3.06 pounds while carrying a 14-inch display. Its mobile screen relies on a central pivot point. It also uses a hinge behind the screen that the user can’t see but that serves as “a horizontal track” that helps to move the screen to the side, PCMag reported.

Another hinge lifts the screen up and toward the user. The display’s upward movement is meant to prevent the bottom corner of the display from making contact with the computer during rotation.

Videos of the VertiFlex show the panel appearing like a normal clamshell laptop when first opened. But then, a grasp of a corner of the screen appears to allow a user to rotate the display easily and smoothly counterclockwise. Once the screen’s fully rotated into portrait mode, the image adjusts accordingly.